Track lighting is often used to provide lighting that can be easily manipulated or adjusted to cast light in a desired direction. Track lighting often includes a frame and/or rail that form a track along which one or more light fixtures may be mounted. Often, light fixtures may be selectively moved and or oriented to point in a desired direction by hand or with very little need for tools.
Generally, track lighting allows for the light fixtures on a track to be connected in parallel on a single channel. Because the light fixtures are electrically connected onto a single channel, any electrical changes from a power source will be reflected in all of the light fixtures. Thus, each light fixture mounted to track lighting cannot be controlled independently. For example, either all of the light fixtures on the track lighting are turned on or turned off. Generally, there is no ability to control one or more of the light fixtures independently of one or more of the other light fixtures mounted on the track.
Additionally, in the case of typical LED track lighting systems, parallel connection of light fixtures is often achieved by a power source providing a track with a constant DC voltage. Each LED fixture typically comprises an embedded power conversion circuit to convert the input constant voltage DC into a constant current output to drive the LEDs. The disadvantage of such an approach is that additional heat-sinking is necessary to properly thermal manage the heat generated by the power conversion circuit which results in added weight to the LED fixture.
AC voltage track lighting systems also generally use parallel connections for connected light fixtures. Typically, the amount of power and corresponding current that can be supplied to the track lighting system is limited by a circuit breaker such as a 20 amp circuit breaker. It is possible to connect several light fixtures in parallel such that excessive heating of the track lighting system may occur before the circuit breaker would activate.